Utilizing computer power to support the Bitcoin network is known as mining. Think of mining as a race or a lottery. Miners use their computers to solve hard puzzles.

The first miner who solves the riddle adds a block of transactions, or “block,” to the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin is given to the miner as payment when a block is added. This reward is like a prize for doing the work.

At first, the prize was very high 50 Bitcoins per block. But over time, the reward has gone down. Right now, the reward is smaller, but many people still think it is a good way to earn money if you are lucky enough to win.

The work of mining is not easy. The puzzles are very hard, and they need special machines to solve them quickly. In the early days, you could mine Bitcoin using a regular computer.

But today, you need something called an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) miner. These machines are built just for mining and work much faster than normal computers.